TreeHouse Foods Said to Weigh Acquisition of Flagstone Foods

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- TreeHouse Foods Inc., the maker of
private-label foods for retailers, is weighing an acquisition of
Flagstone Foods, people familiar with the matter said.

TreeHouse and private-equity firms including Blackstone
Group LP, Carlyle Group LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP made
first-round offers in the $1 billion range and are considering
whether to advance to the next round of bidding for the
Minneapolis maker of dried fruits and nuts, said the people, who
asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

TreeHouse has acquired at least six food companies in the
past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In
April, the Oakbrook, Illinois-based company agreed to buy
Protenergy Natural Foods, a developer and maker of private-label
soups and broths, to expand its offerings.

Gryphon Investors, the San Francisco private-equity owner
of Flagstone, is working with Moelis & Co, Houlihan Lokey and
Bank of Montreal to sell the business, people familiar with the
situation said in March. A price of $1 billion implies about 12
times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization, the people said then.

A spokesman for TreeHouse declined to comment, as did
spokesmen for Gryphon, Blackstone, Carlyle, Moelis and Houlihan
Lokey. Representatives for Leonard Green and Bank of Montreal
didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Gryphon bought Ann’s House of Nuts and Amport Foods and
rolled the business into newly formed holding company Flagstone
in 2010.